Ketamine Infusion Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder

Major depressive disorder is a medical emergency affecting 350 million people worldwide, but one in three patients don’t respond to antidepressants. For those with treatment resistant depression, ketamine could open up new pathways towards healing. It often brings rapid relief, even from severe suicidal thoughts.

The FDA has given ketamine breakthrough therapy status in the hope that more studies will emerge. Thus far, the attempted trials have been small, but the drug is offered to patients with depression as an off-label cure. Ketamine’s effects on mood disorders are promising. Meta studies show impressive results. When nine high quality trials were taken into account, ketamine brought remission to 52% of patients.

How Ketamine Works For Depression

Antidepressants take weeks to months to show results. Ketamine infusions work in a matter of hours, showing peak efficacy 72 hours after treatment. By the seventh day, 40% of patients showed further improvements. Ketamine works for up to seven days. Further studies are needed to find out if repeated infusions could extend long-term. For a few patients, repeated IVs have had a prolonged effect. Some are already getting boosters for as long as a year.

Researchers don’t know exactly why ketamine has such a dramatic effect on mood disorders. It’s possible that it helps the brain to repair itself, mending the cells that need regrowth to encourage neuroplasticity. It seems to block NMDA receptors, which might change gene expression. Ketamine infusion could be ideal for those who respond poorly to serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Low doses given during infusion minimize symptoms, and most patients describe the experience as pleasant.

Visit a Ketamine Infusion Center and learn how this first major breakthrough in thirty years is bringing hope to millions who are in dire need of a new solution.